Don't pretend we can walk away from the Middle East just because we have bigger problems in Europe and Asia.
Obama tried and failed to pivot away:
The Middle East problem is not going away. The region has become a proverbial Hotel California; the United States can check out anytime it likes, but it can never leave.
With a rising China and a major land war in Europe, many analysts have called for the United States to move on from the Middle East, penning articles like “The Middle East Isn’t Worth It Anymore,” “The Middle East Just Doesn’t Matter as Much Any Longer,” and “The End of America’s Middle East.” While the United States has recently shifted its efforts to the Indo-Pacific region and increased its military presence in Europe, the Middle East continues to demand attention.
And we do have fewer assets routinely in the Middle East now after we ramped up to defeat immediate threats and then scaled our forces back after reducing the threats.
The demand to evacuate the Middle East to focus on Europe and Asia makes as little sense as claiming we should evacuate Europe to focus on Asia. Notwithstanding some reinforcements to Europe in response to Russian aggression, we already did reduce our presence in Europe dramatically.
And just as Africa still requires some attention notwithstanding its role as an economy-of-force front, the Middle East still requires our military attention. Luckily, we have allies to support against common enemies--if we admit they are enemies--rather than having to carry the primary load.
Ignoring the region won't work now. Especially now. But one thing would reduce the explosions to a dull roar.
NOTE: The image was made from DALL-E.
NOTE: TDR Winter War of 2022 coverage continues here.
NOTE: I'm adding updates on the Last Hamas War in this post.
